


Consequences

by HolmesianDeduction



Series: 25 Days of Holiday Fic 2k12 [15]
Category: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - All Media Types, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John Le Carré
Genre: 25 Days of Fic, Aftermath, F/M, Gen, George Smiley - Freeform, Implied Relationships, M/M, Operation Dolphin, Sam Collins - Freeform, Spoilers, Stockings, The Honourable Schoolboy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 16:39:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/599888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolmesianDeduction/pseuds/HolmesianDeduction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[25 Days of Holiday Fic: Day 17 - Stockings/Socks]</p><p>(A sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/598962">this piece</a>)</p><p>After meeting with George, Peter pays a visit to his only other major source of support.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consequences

             “What are you thinking?”  Carding her fingers through Peter’s wind-tousled hair, Molly tightened her dressing gown around her shoulders and crossed a leg over her knee, small glimpses of skin just visible beyond the sheer fabric of her black stockings, which had not yet been removed when he had arrived.  It had been past any reasonable hour when Peter had phoned her, and reluctantly, she had agreed to allow him over to her flat without bothering to do more than throw on her dressing gown.

             Now, shoes toed safely off under the table, and his legs curled up under him on Molly’s sofa, Peter Guillam half sat, half leaned against her on the sofa in his shirtsleeves, his gaze distracted and somewhat absent, his head resting against her collarbone.  Finally, after several minutes, he spoke his first words since he’d turned up on her doorstep, his voice raspy and distant.  “I just came from George’s.”

             “Oh?”  Molly allowed her hand to fall to Peter’s shoulder reassuringly - early on, she had become very aware that George Smiley was a sensitive topic of conversation.  “How are he and Mrs. Smiley getting on?”

             “They aren’t,” he replied bluntly, then added, “They’re forcing him out.  And sending me back to Brixton.  Again.”

             They were both silent for what felt like a long time, each moment punctuated by Peter’s shaky breathing and the steady movement of Molly’s hands. Eventually, Peter spoke again.  “It was Collins, wasn’t it?”

             Molly hesitated briefly, then nodded.  “That’s what Connie believes.”

             “And you?”

             She closed her eyes.  “Yes.  That’s what I believe as well.”  Then: “You and I both know that Mr. Smiley didn’t want this.  He didn’t want to be Chief for any length of time.”

             Peter tensed against her, and for a moment she thought that he might bolt, but then he relaxed again.  “He hated it,” he admitted after a spell, “but not for any of the reasons that most people,” he said the last two words especially dismissively, “would imagine.”

             “Do you blame him?”

             “For what?” Peter raised his head just barely, and Molly looked at him steadily.

             “For you.  For Brixton.”

             Peter fell silent and Molly didn’t press him to answer, mostly because she knew the answer already for herself: he never would resent George Smiley for the suffering of his own career in the other’s name.


End file.
